Steve McMichael Pro Football Hall of Fame - The Sportscaster and Her Son Podcast Ep 099 SD 480p

Chicago Bears Defensive Tackle on the 1985 Super Bowl team, Steve McMichael had 95 sacks in the NFL - 3rd most by a player lining up inside on the defensive line at tackle. His work freed up Richard Dent…and Dan Hampton … and Mike Singletary — all Hall of Famers. Yet McMichael kept getting overlooked when it came to enshrinement into Canton, Ohio.

He played in 191 consecutive games for the Bears. More than anyone else in team history. He is in the Texas HS Football HOF … the Texas Longhorns Hall… the College Football Hall .. and finally the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Only he won't be there to accept it and give a rousing South Texas speech.

In 2021 McMichael was diagnosed with ALS. Three years later he is confined to a hospital bed unable to move or speak. His wife Misty went on a campaign to Pro Football Hall of Fame Voters to get their attention to look at McMichael's stats again.

One year ago Mongo caught pneumonia. He and his wife had signed an Do Not Rescucitate and agreed - no hospitals. But what happened earlier that day changed everything.

McMichael got a call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- he had received enough votes and would be enshrined "next year" in August of 2024.

So Misty asked her husband if they could tear of the agreement and get him to a hospital for the help he needed. He lifted an eyebrow - signalling yes. And so they did, and somehow he has defied the odds of this horrible disease.

Now, late July 2024 the Hall of Fame has visited him in his hospital bed to fit him for his Gold Jacket, they've measured his head for the Bust in the Hall of Fame, and they'll take an imprint of his wife's Misty's hand to go along withthose of all the other Hall of Famers... because that is what she is to him. His Hall of Fame voice when he lost his own.

In this very special episode of The Sportscaster and Her Son podcast, both Misty and Steve join the podcast - with Misty interpreting Steve's reactions to our conversation. This is a story of not only love, but having the perseverence to go out on your own terms ... in a gold jacket.

We hope you like this episode. Peggy and Steve go way back to when she covered him in his final year in Chicago and on to play for the Green Bay Packers as well as working together after his playing career - at ESPN Chicago.

Please support the Les Turner ALS Foundation or Obvious Shirts for a "Team Mongo" t-shirt. And remember the sacrifices these football gladiators make by putting their bodies on the line for our enjoyment of the game of football.

Enjoy. Please SUBSCRIBE and follow us on social media @espnPeggy and ‪@JasonKinander‬